


Dear Journal

by ParzivalHallows



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Dick's a rebel, Love is a disease, Other, Rating Might Change, journal/diary format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 04:51:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8954353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParzivalHallows/pseuds/ParzivalHallows
Summary: In the year 9022, everything is assigned: Marriages, jobs, toys, schools, clothes and much more. It's a world where love is a disease, and free will is banned. One day Dick Grayson finds a Journal, and even though it's illegal, he writes down his experiences.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is done for the AAC 2k16 with the prompt "Breaking The Rules". 
> 
> (May or may not add more chapters depending on the feedback)

Dear Journal,

I can't believe I actually found one of these things. Journals haven't been around for hundreds of years, but I found one when I was transported to an ancient area which used to be called South America for a class trip. It wasn't like this journal was on display or anything, and nobody wrote in it. So what's the problem if I take it? There wasn't anyone using it anyway.

I do feel a bit guilty, but the educators said don't touch anything in the display cases. They never said anything about touching or keeping things /not/ in the display case. I'm going to have to hide this from the others, we're not supposed to have belongings unless we're assigned to have them. In these days, everything is assigned. Marriages, households, jobs, rooms, toys, schools, clothes, items, names - anything and everything. Nobody talks about it, but we all know that we aren't in control of our own lives, no matter what the government says. It's considered a crime to do something we aren't supposed to, even if it's something stupid like walking to school rather than taking transportation. They have special cells that they hold us in, they'll keep us for hours or years depending on how bad the crimes are. Each cell is plastic enclosed, and there are four people to each cell. When a child is born, if they make the population an even number, a new cell will be made, and if the number of humans becomes odd, the government will either kill a child, or demand a married couple to have another child so there will be room in each cell. The cells are far away from where I live, in a land called Ancient Africa. The cells take up almost the entire country. Due to population control, every fifty years half of the humans will be exterminated. Any person the government considers useless - barren women, deformed children, disabled men - are all killed. The strong ones, the women able to carry children, the children who are smart, the men who are good at working, are allowed to stay alive. That's how it's been for thousands of years, and I don't think it will be stopping anytime soon.

\- Dick Grayson, January 12th 9022   
_______________________________

Dear Journal,

Tomorrow I'm going to be Tested. I'm at the age of 14 now, which is when we are required to go to separate schools that portray our skill sets. Before we can go to our new schools, we must be Tested. Nobody knows what happens when you're Tested, we aren't allowed to talk about it or we'll get in trouble. I don't know why they won't let us know, but they're very adamant about it. Both of my parents went to a school specifically meant for entertainment. They were considered compatible when they went to the new school and were arranged by the government to be married. They don't love each other, nobody loves each other. Love is considered to be a disease, we barely say the word. The ones who feel love are diagnosed as mentally unstable and are killed during the fifty year extermination period.

The government says love is crippling, something that makes us weak. I personally don't see a problem with love, but if I say that and the government finds out, I'd be in serious trouble. They wouldn't take me seriously because of my youth, but they need to be on alert in case the virus called love consumes and cripples us.

But they want what's best for us. We've survived without love, so I'm sure I will too.

\- Dick Grayson, September 1st 9023   
__________________________________

Dear Journal,

I was Tested today, but that wasn't the most interesting thing. I met a new acquaintance, his assigned name is Jason Todd. We were both Tested into the same school - entertainment. I'm actually very surprised he hadn't been Tested into the fighting school, but being in that school is never a good thing. They cause nothing but trouble.

The Testing itself... well let's say there's a reason nobody talks about it and leave it at that.

\- Dick Grayson, September 2nd 9023  
____________________________

Dear Journal,

Today was a good day. We started off the school year by learning the history of our school's purposes. There's surprisingly a lot, anything that can fall under the category 'entertainment' is taught there. Although some of those 'entertainments' aren't... very good.

We learned about all of them at first, studied each of them for months. Then we started practicing all of them, which wasn't fun. At all. Especially with the darker entertainments.

Once the educators found what we were best at, they assigned us to different categories. I along with four others - Calvin, Jason, Raymond and Raya were all chosen to be aerialists. It's actually very fun. Next year we'll have a subcategory. They'll train us again at the beginning of the year to see if what we did had any effect on us, and if there were other things we were good at - which would be the subcategory. So next year we'll be training with our current category - aerialist in my case - along with a new category preformed less often.

Jason and I became friends, although he was having trouble with the other students, especially Raya. They weren't mean to each other, but Raya had an attitude when it came to him, and Jason I discovered, has a very short temper. So far we've been able to hide that little fact from the educators since we didn't want Jason or Raya in trouble, but it's only a matter of time until they find out. There is no 'if'. The only thing us aerialists can do is try to help the two grow out of this.

-Dick Grayson, April 14th 9023  
_________________________

Dear Journal,

One of the students from the theater entertainment category got in trouble today. She was friends with a person from another school, which isn't allowed. Close friends. Close enough that the government was worried they might contain the love disease. They had them locked up for two days until they were certain that neither were infected, then they were brought back here. I don't know how the government did it, but the two aren't friends anymore. In fact, it's like they don't even know each other. It's not an act either, I can tell. They honestly don't seem to recall knowing each other. It's... worrying.

\- Dick Grayson, May 2nd 9023


End file.
